


Beaten, Not Broken

by Fawn4Life



Series: Road To Redemption [2]
Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: Angst, Chariox - Freeform, Charoix, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2017-07-17
Packaged: 2018-12-03 05:00:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11525073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fawn4Life/pseuds/Fawn4Life
Summary: Chariot will protect Akko from Croix. She will, and Akko will shine a thousand times brighter than Shiny Chariot ever could.





	Beaten, Not Broken

Their second meeting starts off with a bang.

Literally.

Chariot barely has time to think before flinging herself into the air, a giant cleaver swinging just inches from her head. It smashes into the side of the tower, sending bricks and stones flying every which way. Arrows from the stone archers are whizzing about, and Chariot has to take care not to get skewered by one as she jumps from along the debris floating in the air, defying gravity.

If she had time to laugh, she would, because isn’t defying gravity second nature to a witch?

Her feet finally land on the outstretched arm of the goliath in front of her, its expression one of anger as it tries to tug its cleaver free. Before it has a chance to, Chariot whips her wand out.

“Vega Varulus!”

Her wand glows, and so do her feet, which she uses to kick the goliath right in the chin. The leg strengthening spell does its job, and Chariot thanks the gods that her bones remain unbroken. There is no time to gloat, however, because even as the stone construct goes down, its fist goes up, up, up towards Chariot.

Red eyes go wide.

Chariot grits her teeth and kicks off, throwing herself off of the tower mere seconds before she gets hit. As she falls, she whips off the cumbersome cloak and flings it away from her.

Croix has never done anything half assed though, and it’s evident in the blasts of magic sent her way from the goliath’s eyes. Cursing loudly -she would _not fail Akko_ \- Chariot dodges them all.

Except for one.

There’s a sharp pain in her side as the magic connects, the small barrier she managed to bring up only softening the blow. Chariot goes flying once more, into the concrete steps of the tower. Raising her wand, her shield grows in size. The goliath’s magic is forced back, and if the animated sentinel could look surprised, it would be.

“Belga Veeda!”

Her arm shakes as a beam twenty times the size of the goliath’s shoots from her wand, and soon all that’s left is a pile of rubble where it once stood.

A pulse of magic has Chariot’s head jerking up, just in time to see two more creatures emerge from the tower walls. A spider and a chimera, both ready to kill. With a huff of frustration, Chariot pulls her glasses off and glares.

“Croix, stop this!”

She just knows the other witch is watching.

The answer comes in the form of a lunge from both spider and chimera. Flinging her glasses away, Chariot hops on the chimera’s back and kicks upwards into the spider’s abdomen. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see crimson locks flowing behind her.

With the monster dazed, Chariot races away, her earlier spell allowing her to run along the tower wall with ease. The chimera follows, a roar echoing through the entire tower. Chariot’s mind is racing even faster than her body is, searching for any way to stop the beast.

There.

Her lips curve into a tired grin as she spies the giant cleaver still stuck in the wall. Jumping onto it, a quick flick of her wrist has it rising up. The chimera pounces, and with a loud scream Chariot brings her wand down, cleaver following suit ready to cut the monster in half.

It doesn’t.

The cleaver shatters into hundreds of pieces, the chimera completely unharmed even as Chariot’s hope of defeating it is destroyed. 

This is not a fight that she can win. Not anymore. Chariot knows when she’s been beaten.

So she abandons the idea of fighting, too exhausted to fight the possible army that Croix has at her disposal. Instead, Chariot flees, legs burning as she bolts straight up the tower wall.

Magic buzzes in the air, and Chariot dodges to the left. A bolt of energy goes flying past her. She can’t look behind her, doesn’t have time to see where they’re coming from. As she runs, a large metal door grows closer. The end is in sight.

_Almost there… Almost there…_

The door opens, and there’s no time to even scream as dozens of -are those tentacles??- things latch onto her arms, her legs, and yank her through, the door slamming shut behind them. The only consolation is that with the doors closing, they lock out the two stone monsters.

They throw her into the ground, and Chariot tumbles several times before finally skidding to a stop on her face. Her body hurts. Everything hurts.

Pushing herself up, Chariot coughs and spits out a mouthful of blood.

“Hello again, Chariot Du Nord.”

That familiar voice rings in Chariot’s ears, causing her fists to clench. Croix is mere feet away from her, looking impeccable as always. Two round machines hover beside her, beeping away. Along one wall were several monitors, all showing pictures of Akko… or of herself. There she is, in high definition, either as her alias of Ursula or as her stage persona of Shiny Chariot.

It’s obvious what this whole thing is. “Croix… You were testing my powers, weren’t you?”

Croix laughs. The blue glow of the monitors give her face a sinister edge. “Of course I was, Shiny Chariot. I haven’t seen you in action in ten years. I had presumed that after you fled, your powers would have weakened considerably, but it seems you’ve retained a bit more than I expected.”

The sound of her stage name has Chariot’s stomach dropping. She has always loved it, thought it fun and whimsical. Coming from Croix’s lips though… It sounds childish.

Unable to meet Croix’s gaze any longer, Chariot looked away. Over to the side, just beside Croix, there’s a table. And on that table-

“Akko!”

Ignoring the pain in her legs, Chariot ran over to Akko, hovering over her protectively. “What have you done to her?!”

“I simply collected some data, that’s all. Though it was all within expected parameters considering what I learned from watching you both.” There’s a short pause, and then Croix smirks. “There was nothing worthwhile.”

Chariot growls in response. Croix is _wrong_. Akko was amazing, even if no one else but her could recognize it. The fact that the Claiomh Solais chose Akko was proof enough.

… Even if it had been wrong about Chariot.

“You haven’t changed at all, have you? Still selfish as ever!” she shouts at Croix. “This is insane!”

Croix just smiles even wider. “You, however, have changed. Barely a shadow of your former self, Chariot. To think I used to be blinded by your brilliance.”

That stings. Chariot’s chest aches as the memories come back to her. Memories of her and Croix, side by side and hand in hand. Smiling without a care in the world.

How she wishes things could be like that again.

One by one, the monitors flicker and die. Chariot grips the edge of the table, ready to lunge the second Croix makes a move.

“Even if you know my plan, you’re powerless to stop me, Chariot.” Croix does move, but it’s to turn away from Chariot, casually dismissing her. “Have you even told her your secret yet? I bet you haven’t. You always were a coward at heart.”

She watches Croix walk away, the other witch’s last words ringing in her ears. “Without the Claiomh Solais, you are _nothing_.”

Croix isn’t wrong, but to actually hear it from her of all people sends a knife through Chariot’s heart, and it’s all she can do to stifle a sob. To willingly turn your back on an enemy meant you saw them as weak…

As worthless.

The words bubble up before she can stop them. “Even if I can never shine again, I _will_ protect Akko!” She’s not even sure if Croix hears her.

It doesn’t matter.

She will protect Akko. She will. And Akko will succeed where she couldn’t.

Chariot may have failed before, and she doesn’t doubt she’ll fail again in the future. But this… She will not fail at this.


End file.
